Monday, 29 December 2014

"For a number of years, the weather station at Kiska Island had been all-but abandoned, leaving the remote outpost undefended against potential aggression from the Empire of the Blazing Sun. The strategic importance of the island was questionable, but the some within the intelligence agencies of the Federated States of America believed there was a chance the Blazing Sun (or the Russian Coalition...) could use Kiska and the rest of the Aleutian Island chain in an island-hopping campaign up from Kuril Islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula, into Canada and then down into FSA territory.

Tensions with the Russian Coalition had been high for the entire War, especially for those captains based in the North Pacific and the Bering Sea in the wake of the Bering Incident. Seeking to score political points and show-up the Russian Navy, Admiral Franklin E. King ordered an Expeditionary Fleet to secure Kiska in the interest of national security and to salvage any leftover Russian technology from their barely-manned weather station.

Such a blatantly aggressive move was not in the interests of the American Congress or General Staff, and in the tense months that followed, few could justify the order for the attempted annexation beyond the personal vendetta of Admiral King. The truth behind who gave the order would be lost in the political debacle that followed...

...regardless of the explanation for the deployment of the Expeditionary Fleet, nothing would matter as they sailed unsuspectingly into the guns of the Russian's secret Aleutian Patrol Fleet, Battlegroup Chirikov, and began the first major naval engagement between the Federated States and the Russian Coalition in nearly three years..."

"The Pearl of Borneo, Labuan had operated as a refuelling station and port for many ships in the World War, but largely avoided the fighting. This was to end as a sizeable flotilla of Chinese warships crested the horizon, looking to damage the infrastructure of the Grand Coalition and cut their supply lines.

Suspecting such a move, the Admiralty of the Britannian Royal Navy had ordered a Battle Group from the Indian Raj to garrison the port, and even allowed the fleet commander a small bursary to supplement his forces with mercenary troops - an investment quickly used to give the garrison aerial defences in form of the Honourable Eclipse Company.

As the Chinese fleet began their approach, the Indian fleet appeared from behind the derricks and began their bombardment, using their powerful Howitzers to try and dissuade further attack. It did not work, and it seemed that the battle would be decided in closer quarters..."

Saturday, 18 October 2014

"As pressure mounted on the fleets of the aggressive Chinese Federation, they deployed more and more of their warships in an expanding circle, pushing into territorial waters of almost every other nation with a coast on the South China Sea. Their allies in the Empire of the Blazing Sun and their former benefactors, the mysterious Wani, also contributed support in their attacks against the Grand Coalition.In response to the losses suffered at Pulau Tioman and Banda Aceh, fleet commanders for the Federated States of America ordered a punitive retaliation against the Chinese Federation. The movement of Battle Group Ulysses away from the on-going fleet maneuvres in the Pacific Ocean was questioned and quietly condemned, but the orders of the Vice-Chief of Naval Operations could not be countermanded. The movements of the Federacy fleet were followed by Imperial Bond spies, and a counter-thrust made at Balabac Island, where the American fleet was moving into the south-eastern waters of the South China Sea. Appearing from behind a long-dormant volcano, the Chinese fleet made their attack amid the shallow waters, their fleet an image out of some fantastical nightmare, led by ghostly Terror Ships and monstrous Dragons..."

Friday, 10 October 2014

"The rolling invasion of the Malaysian ports by the Chinese Federation devastated huge swathes of Grand Coalition territory, their immense fleets and land forces destroying any who stood in their path. Merchant and civilian vessels were no match for their new technologies, and the East India Merchant Company were hard-pressed to counter such a wide invasion with their limited, albeit elite, resources.

Appealing to the Kingdom of Britannia, the East India Merchant Company were rewarded with the commitment of a Battle Group of the Indian Raj, veteran sailors with newly developed, impressive technologies. Supplementing this, they secured the services of several Australian ships who would work in support of Battle Group Katari.

Driving through the Singapore Strait at full speed, the Coalition fleet moved against one of the earliest targets of the Chinese Federation, Pulau Tioman. Rumour abounded of a great Wall erected around the island, and a Great Beast that defended it, constantly circling behind the Wall. Scoffing at such nonsense, the young Fleet Captain Sardarilal M. Dhowan committed to the attack..."

Tuesday, 30 September 2014

"In the Autumn of 1873, the Imperial Bond had renewed their pursuit of Grand Coalition shipping with vigour, seeking to ambush and destroy those convoys daring to travel close to the expanding ice sheets around Greenland and Iceland. The Prussian Empire and their Danish allies were especially active, operating from their bases in Greenland with impunity as the Americans struggled in the Pacific and the Kingdom of Britannia tried to hold their grip on North Africa.

Increasingly stretched despite the size of their Royal Navy, the Kingdom of Britannia drew upon allies from the colonies - the Indian Raj and the loyal Australian navies were ordered to send reserve fleets halfway across the world to help defend their convoys and give the Britannian Battle Fleets the freedom to engage in active warfare instead of escort duty.

New ships and new commanders brought fresh eyes to the brutal Atlantic theatre. Seeing the strength of the Prussian Navy around Greenland and the Federated States' disastrous attempt to attack them directly at Holsteinsborg, Admiral Sardarilal M. Dhowan formed a plan for an ambush, luring the Prussian Wolf Packs out with the promise of barely-defended merchant shipping. Using strange new technologies, he would hide his fleet and launch a bold counter-attack when the Prussians made their move.

The plan was as bold as it was obvious, but Dhowan was confident that the Prussians, who had not faced the Indian Raj on open water before, would be unprepared for their new tricks. He played his hand just off Newfoundland, leading the fleet himself from the flagship Marutagana..."

- New Eyes, New Enemies - Exploits of the Indian Raj in the North Atlantic

Saturday, 30 August 2014

"In the wake of the attack at Pulau Tioman and the loss of the 47th Reserve Fleet, the Federated States of America took a far greater interest in the general disorganisation and rampant piracy crippling the war effort in the South China Sea,. The American command in the area authorised the activation of the 56th Reserve Fleet, resting and refitting in nearby waters, to engage the Chinese Federation and the Imperial Bond directly.

Bolstered by the addition of several newly commissioned cutting-edge ship designs and even one of the mighty Boston-class submersibles, the Reserve Fleet became a formidable force under the command of Rear-Admiral John T. Whiston, and made full speed for the Strait of Malacca where they could pass into the South China Sea past Singapore.

Before they could reach the Strait, they encountered several pirate vessels apparently operating under their own volition. Suspecting ties to the Imperial Bond, especially with the presence of an Italian Hunter Fleet, Whiston ordered the reconnaissance elements of his fleet to track them, and eventually found a small base amid a series of small islands off Banda Aceh. Seeing it as a personal duty to rid the area of such rogues, the order was given to attack..."